Moscow zoo is celebrating its birthday
Published: 14 February, 2007, 03:02
One of the oldest attractions in the city, the Moscow zoo is now 143. The birthday celebrations are saved for the summer though, when both animals and humans alike are far more willing to head outdoors.
Founded in 1864 by a group of professor-biologists from Moscow State University, the zoo houses over 6,000 animals from more than 1,000 species. Today, the zoo carries out conservation, educational, and scientific research and participates in a number of international breeding programs. More than 100 endangered species are breeding successfully, though the zoo’s 20 hectares can’t keep all of them in Moscow anymore. “We have a special territory, the Breeding Station, some 100 kilometres from Moscow near the city of Volocolamsk. We have a big collection of animals there,” says Natalya Istratova, the zoo's press-secretary.The zoo needs all the financial help it can get protecting and maintaining them. A large part of its funding comes from public patronage.The zoo has been controlled by the city of Moscow since 1922. More than a million visitors a year pass through its gates, with millions more sure to follow. But after 143 years, who’s counting?
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